13 DAY CRATER, MIGRATION AND ZANZIBAR

Explore three of Tanzania’s most celebrated game reserves and a sumptuous tropical island retreat

Day 1: Arusha

Honeymooners will be met upon arrival by tourAfrika representative upon arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport and transferred by road to Arusha Coffee Lodge to commence with your crater, migration and Zanzibar honeymoon. Arusha Coffee Lodge, pleated away on a coffee plantation on the fringes of Arusha, the bustling frontier town with a huge character as the safari capital of Tanzania.

There are several attractions to entice you away from the Lodge’s enchanting gardens and amiable, personal service. A day trip to Arusha National Park, with its majestic views of Mount Kilimanjaro, is highly recommended as are a walk around the Natural History Museum and a stopover to the 3.5-million-year-old Leatoli Footprints. There are interesting markets to scour and fine-looking coffee plantations to appreciate before settling in for a comfortable night at the Lodge.

Overnight:  Arusha Coffee Lodge
Meals:  Dinner

Day 2 – 3: Lake Manyara National Park

After breakfast you will be transferred to Arusha Airport for a flight destined for Lake Manyara National Park. On arrival by a representative from the hotel and road transferred from the local airstrip to Lake Manyara Tree Lodge, the only accommodation to be found inside the park itself, and provides an introductory game drive to an area the Nobel Prize winner Ernest Hemingway described as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa”.

Lake Manyara National Park is a small park in the Arusha Tanzania safari Region and is dominated by the alkaline Lake Manyara. The fresh water lake is seasonal home to around three million migratory lesser and greater pink flamingoes. The flamingoes and unusual tree climbing lions, is what has made this National Park famous! Lake Manyara is one of four lakes within the Great Rift Valley.

The Reserve is an ecologically diverse area. It supports herds of plains game, predators including leopards, amazing birdlife with over 400 species, giraffe and large hippos wallowing in the lake. For the small size of the park you enjoy a diverse and varied wildlife experience.

Complete your stay at Lake Manyara with a cold drink and the African sunset. Enormous views unroll in front of you. Where the forest gives way to attractive plains, the eye is drawn past clouds of flamingos on the lakeshore to a line of pale purple peaks – jagged towers standing guard over the Maasai Steppes, the great East African grasslands and your next destination.

Overnight:  Lake Manyara Tree Lodge
Meals:  Full Board

Day 4 – 5: Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Early morning road transfer carries honeymooners from Lake Manyara to the extraordinary Ngorongoro Crater. This is a location of unique wonders as its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site confers. Created by a gigantic volcanic eruption, the world’s bulkiest intact and un-flooded caldera offers a year-round home to astounding 25,000 large mammals including black rhino, wildebeest and zebra along with Africa’s densest concentrations of lion. The Crater’s forests shelter elephant and buffalo, its wetlands are home to hippos and flamingos while wild dog, hyena, leopard and cheetah make up the full variety of predators.

Overlooking it all from its position right on the edge of the crater sits your extravagant accommodation: Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. Splendid affluence rules this Lodge, from the chandelier-lit bathrooms to the personal butler service and very fine dining. Every suite provides inspiring views and you may find it difficult to pull yourself away from your favourite viewing spot but expert guides in game viewing 4X4s look forward to your attention.

The route inclines over the opulent rainforests of the rim, 610 metres down to the plains of the crater floor, an area of about 260 square kilometres. Notwithstanding its small size, the Crater is Big 5 country and the openness of the landscape means easy and gratifying game viewing. Honeymooners spend the day discovering the crater floor, pausing to picnic on the plains amidst the browsing herds. Return to the Lodge for sundowners on the crater’s rim and splendid feasts in the domed dining area.

Overnight:  Ngorongoro Crate Lodge
Meals:  Full Board

Day 6 – 8: Serengeti National Park

After breakfast overlooking the Crater, you take a short flight to the trolling grasslands known to the local Maasai as Siringitu – the place where the land moves on forever – and Tanzania’s first game reserve, the Serengeti National Park. The Serengeti National Park covers 14,763 km2 of vast open plains that stretch across the Tanzanian area between the Kenyan border and the outskirts of Lake Victoria. It has an abundance of wildlife with the numbers been estimated at well over 3 million. The Serengeti ranges from 920 m to 1850 m in altitude and is not as flat as many travellers believe. Amongst these different altitude levels you will be able to discover the most remarkable animals; hidden in valleys or on top of beautiful rock formations.

In addition to wildebeest, the Serengeti National Park holds many types of large antelopes, including zebra, impala, eland, klipspringer, dik dik, and several different kinds of buck. Also look out for lions, leopards, cheetahs, giraffes, rhinos, elephants, hippos, hyenas, bat eared foxes, jackals, warthogs, porcupines, crocodiles, baboons, mongoose’s and different types of monkey. The Serengeti is also home to almost 500 different bird species, including; vultures, storks, flamingos, martial and fish eagles and ostriches. The annual wildebeest migration usually crosses into the Serengeti between May or early June. It is then that millions of wildebeest cross over Tanzania searching for water and food as the season changes.

Your accommodation has been carefully selected to deliver on opportunities: set in remote locations that move with the rhythm of the migrating herds, Serengeti Under Canvas extends exclusive tented accommodation with outstanding game viewing prospects.

Honeymooners will spend three nights at Serengeti Under Canvas and enjoy the drama of Africa’s greatest reserve. The emphasis is on simple luxury and a romantic, close-to-nature setting while activities centre on experiencing the migration spectacle on daily game drives or on much-celebrated early morning hot-air balloon rides. Guided nature walks and Maasai village visits augment to the experience.

Overnight:  Serengeti Under Canvas
Meals:  Full Board

Day 9 – 12: Zanzibar

After the final morning game drive, honeymooners proceed to Abeid Amani Karume International Airport where a boat transfer await to deliver you to a private marine conservation area, Mnemba Island. Enveloped by an amazing diversity of marine life and wonderful coral reefs, Mnemba is a picture-perfect tropical idyll. Honeymooners will spend their days here scuba diving or snorkelling in the crystal clear waters or lazing on the immaculate shorelines. For more active honeymooners, Mnemba extends to kayaking, windsurfing, fly-fishing and diving courses.

The warmth, massage treat, and thoughtful touches make Mnemba a charismatic ‘paradise found’. The chalets enjoy all the allure of rustic, Robinson Crusoe-style architecture without losing any of the cosiness of a luxury hotel.

Overnight:  Mnemba Island Lodge
Meals:  Full Board

Day 13: Departure

After your final tropical breakfast, honeymooners are transferred by boat to the Muyuni Crossing Point on Zanzibar for the ultimate leg of your journey to Abeid Amani Karume International Airport and thus concluding memorable 13 Day Crater, Migration & Zanzibar Honeymoon tour.

Overnight:  None
Meals:  Breakfast